All it took was a sidestep and a swerve from a green three year old filly to remind Anna Roper of the vagaries of racing. She was probably thinking how well Clan D’Oro was finishing off to grab third place in Monday’s 1000m maiden at Muswellbrook, when the filly suddenly lost her compass. She ducked in, she ducked out and then in again leaving her young rider airborne. “I was in trouble from the first shift,” said Anna as she prepared to leave the racecourse after being cleared by doctors. “I hit the deck with a thud and gave the back of my head a decent whack. Happily, I escaped with a slight sprain to the left ankle, and I can see a black eye looming, but I’m fine. Hopefully I’ll ride before the end of the week.”
It was a massive comedown from the euphoria of the previous Tuesday when the twenty one year old was the star of the show at the Taree meeting. She’d been more than chuffed to win the opening race for Taking the Mikki’s large ownership syndicate and trainer Kristen Buchanan. The highly regarded apprentice was now only one win short of her maiden century with three more rides to come. Her next two mounts finished out of a place but her last for the day was the one destined to give Anna an important milestone win. Mind you she had to win a second battle in the stewards room before sharing her excitement.
She quickly led in the 1007m Rising Stars Heat on Emphatic Bel who was reluctant to cross down to the fence at any stage. The mare continued to drift towards the middle of the track in the straight, and actually “brushed” with challenger Mum’s Toyboy at the 100m. Zac Wadick, rider of the runner up lodged a protest and for a few anxious moments Anna thought her magical achievement would have to wait for another day. She was ecstatic on two counts when stewards dismissed the objection. Her second Rising Star heat win of the season took her to a narrow lead in the series, but most importantly she’d reached triple figures despite a lengthy injury layoff.
“I was chuffed to get the century, but to do it on one of Denim Wynen’s horses added to the thrill,” said Anna. “Denim’s in her mid twenties and has been training for only a short time. She does a great job with a small team of horses as her results suggest. I help her out with trackwork whenever possible and we’ve become very good friends.”
Emphatic Bel gives Anna her century of wins at Taree 09/01/2024 - courtesy Trackside Photography.
You only need to look at the time frame of Anna Roper’s short career to realise the significance of her achievement. Allowing for time out with a complicated knee injury in the 2022/2023 season, the horse loving girl from Mangrove Mountain has ridden in races for just thirteen and a half months of the last twenty two. She emulated her Taree double at Newcastle two days later with wins on In A Step for Peter Graham and Obvious Step for her Wyong friend Denim Wynen. On Saturday she was at Kembla Grange to win the 2400m BM64 on Xtrarevz for Randwick trainer John Sargent. The much travelled young rider thought nothing of driving to Nowra on Sunday for one unplaced ride. Twenty four hours later she was an early arrival at Muswellbrook where she originally had a full book of seven rides. The first two ran third, the next two were out of a place. Then came her unceremonious parting of the ways with Clan D’Oro.
This time two years ago Anna Roper was in no hurry to make her riding debut. She told her then boss Tracey Bartley that she didn’t care if she had forty or fifty trial rides before going to the races. She’d had less than thirty when trainer Tony Newing offered her the chance to ride Alpha Go in an 1180m BM 66 at Gundagai. Anna’s mother Kate had the job of driving her daughter into foreign territory and an even bigger job in finding the racecourse. It’s now history that Anna had arranged for a brand new saddle to be delivered to the Gundagai track, and actually unpacked it in the jockey’s room.
She was unable to get in any closer than three wide on Alpha Go, but got the gelding into a lovely rhythm and rode with composure and confidence to win the race easily. Punters who were curious about the “mystery” girl from the Central Coast were soon appeased as her beaming smile appeared on thousands of Sky Racing screens around the nation. Most of them knew they’d just witnessed something a little bit special. When the 2021/2022 season ended just four months later, apprentice A. Roper had ridden a remarkable fifteen winners.
This is the very first of the magic century - a Gundagai win on Alpha Go at her first race ride - courtesy Kylie Shaw Trackpix Racing Photography.
She began the new season with a flurry, and posted a stunning forty one wins and seventy three placings in just four months. At one point she was a handful of wins ahead of James McDonald on the NSW premiership ladder. Her fairy tale journey came to a shuddering halt at Muswellbrook on November 25th, as she returned to scale after an unplaced ride in the second race. Her mount Stable Talk put his head between his front legs and bucked uncontrollably. Anna was hurled from the saddle and took the full brunt of the fall on her right knee - the knee she’d seriously injured in a soccer field accident four years earlier.
The most talked about young jockey in the state was devastated to learn the extent of her injury - chronic tearing in the posterior cruciate ligament and in the medial collateral ligament. She was equally devastated when informed by specialists that she could expect to be on the sidelines for at least six months. They did however decide against surgery in the belief the injury would heal with regular use of a knee brace.
Imagine Anna’s disappointment three months into her rehabilitation when there was little improvement. She was finally admitted for MCL surgery after which she settled into another period of frustration and tedium. Her physiotherapy sessions began when she attained 40 degrees of flexion. On reaching 90 degrees her gym sessions began while still maintaining regular physiotherapy. The moment she’d dreamed about for many months finally arrived in June of 2023, when she made a very low key return to trackwork for her new master Damien Lane at Wyong. “I rode only three horses on the first morning and it nearly killed me,” she said. “I kept going slowly increasing the workload, but the pain persisted and I was close to throwing in the towel. Just as I was about to abandon any hope of a comeback, I was conscious of marginal improvement. A week later I was handling six horses, and a week after that I was managing ten.”
Anna had many reasons to smile in the months before her Muswellbrook accident. She rode 41 winners in the first four months of the season. This classic was taken after her Gundagai win on Alpha Go - courtesy Kylie Shaw Trackpix Racing Photography.
She observed the same caution when it was time to return to the barrier trials. She rode three horses on her first morning back winning one trial for Sara Ryan. Two days later she stepped up to five trials at Muswellbrook, winning one for trainer Todd Howlett. She waited a fortnight before making another appearance at the Gosford trials, and this time she was resolved to making the call one way or another. She’d had a tentative offer from Tara and Philippe Vigoroux to ride a horse called Tillman at the Kempsey Saturday meeting. She couldn’t wait to accept the ride when she finished the morning with no complications. By the time the Kempsey fields were published Anna was surprised to see that she’d been nominated for three other rides - two for Dwayne Schmidt and one for Kristen Buchanan.
She wondered if four rides might be too much on her first day back. She needn’t have worried. It was the fourth one, the Buchanan trained Penfold Park who provided one of the biggest thrills of her short career. The Schmidt duo ran fourth and second respectively, Tillman had every chance before finishing fourth while Penfold Park raced on the pace before scoring an emphatic win. Anna was thrilled beyond belief. “I couldn’t believe I’d ridden a winner on my first day back for my great supporter Kristen Buchanan,” she said. “I don’t know how many times I’d convinced myself it was all over before it even got started. Suddenly I felt that amazing adrenaline rush again, and boy did it fire me up.
A win on Penfold Park on her first day back from a long layoff - Kempsey 29/07/2023 - courtesy Trackside Photography.
“It wasn’t a case of picking up where I’d left off. Trainers like to observe jockeys returning from injury for a while before putting them back on. Rides were infrequent for the first couple of months, but started to pick up after I’d ridden a few winners in the bush without my country claim. All of a sudden I was getting better rides on the provincial tracks where I did have a claim. At the same time Damien Lane agreed to take over my indentures at Wyong and so began a wonderful partnership. He’s a great boss and a very good horse trainer. I enjoy riding trackwork most mornings with Damien’s wife Kate. There’s a great family atmosphere at the Lane stables.”
One for the boss! Anna wins on Dize at Gosford on New Year's Eve - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Damien Lane discourages Anna from using up her metropolitan claim too quickly, and gets no opposition from his apprentice. Offers are fairly frequent but to date she’s had only a handful of city rides with two winners on the board. She rode a perfect race to win on Lady Redwood at a midweek Warwick Farm meeting early in October for good supporter Paul Murray. Just over two weeks later she led all the way to win a BM 88 on long striding grey Much Much Better for Sara Ryan - her first Saturday metro win and her first on the hallowed turf of Royal Randwick. Interestingly she rates Much Much Better as the best horse she’s been on in a race to date, and as a “push button” ride. For the time being the talented apprentice can keep herself amused on provincial tracks where she still has twenty two winners in hand before her claim is cut to 1.5 kg. Her time in the city awaits.
Anna still marvels at the fact that just a few years ago she wasn’t even aware a racing industry existed. Her interest in horses began at a very early age following in the footsteps of older sisters Jordie and Erin. Following her formative years in pony club and local horse shows, Anna immersed herself in the dressage pursuit, and progressed to the extent that she won the Australian Youth Championship in 2016. She applied the same dedication to the art of eventing in which she attained the top level of competition. Her honours included the NSW and national Inter School Championships in 2019.
On leaving school in 2018 with a very high ATAR ranking, Anna’s primary goal was to study veterinary science. Before pursuing that goal she decided on finding a suitable part time job to help with her upcoming University fees. That decision was destined to change the course of her life. She found a role as a trackwork rider for Gosford thoroughbred trainer Greg McFarlane. “After a few weeks of education I was finally allowed to let these beautiful animals stride along, and I was instantly besotted,” said Anna. “Before I knew it I was working full time for Wyong trainer Tracey Bartley who would apprentice me soon after. I think I rode two or three horses on the first morning, and a dozen on the second.”
The young jockey wasn’t the only one in the family to have little awareness of Australia’s vibrant racing industry. Anna’s mother Kate immediately became her daughter’s unofficial chauffeur and until recently had the job of getting her to race meetings all over the state. Jeff Roper is an Electrical Engineer who works predominantly from his home office. Anna says her father’s Sky Racing viewing hours have increased and so has his understanding of this new phenomenon in his life. Sisters Erin and Jordie who previously had no racing interest, have become very switched on supporters.
Anna’s name has come up in several podcast interviews we’ve presented on the website in the past twelve months. The comments of trainers have a common thread. All agree Anna Roper has a unique touch with horses. Dubbo trainer Connie Greig has a few interesting things to say about the Central Coast whiz kid. “She thinks nothing of travelling out west if I have some decent rides for her,” says Connie. “There’s little point in burdening her with instructions because she works the horses out for herself, and usually gets it right. I thought she was way too far back on Deel Street one day at Kembla. I was pretty worried when she still hadn’t made a move by the 300m. Suddenly she cut loose and grabbed them on the line to win narrowly. Anna said she was never worried.”
Anna arrives in the last stride to win on Deel Street at Kembla Grange - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Her first win back from injury on Penfold Park at Kempsey was at the very tail end of the 2022/2023 racing season. She attacked the new season with great enthusiasm and hasn’t stopped riding winners. As this story is posted on January 17th the gifted jockey is prominently parked in seventh spot on the NSW premiership ladder with 46 wins and 86 placings. Just a few wins behind her is hard working veteran Grant Buckley who just happens to be one of her most valued advisers. “Not only is Grant one of the most experienced riders on my circuit, but he’s always happy to answer my questions and watch a replay with me,” says Anna. “He tells me what I’ve done right and what I’ve done wrong. I’m always anxious to get his take on a race when a trainer hasn’t been happy with one of my rides.”
In less than two years as a professional jockey Anna has already experienced the valleys and peaks of a very demanding and risky profession. She’d barely come to terms with instant racing fame in 2022, when the buckjumper at Muswellbrook brought her back to earth with a sickening thud. Eight months of frustration, pain and tedium gave her a whole new outlook on life. Few twenty one year olds have grown up so quickly. She even made an early entry into the Central Coast property market recently, with the purchase of her first townhouse just ten minutes by road from the Wyong racecourse. Won’t be long and she’ll be mixing it with some formidable opposition on Sydney’s metropolitan tracks. They’ll know she’s there.
Anna has had only a handful of city rides so far. She was thrilled to win her first Saturday metro race on Much Much Better at Randwick last October - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - The race that marked a milestone! Anna wins the Rising Stars Heat on Emphatic Bel at Taree - courtesy Trackside Photography.)